You're probably as tired of reading about it as we are of writing about it, but there's more bus strike action coming our way. Plan now to find alternate transport on Friday 10 and Wednesday 22 October, especially as more routes will be affected than previously. Members of the union Unite are still trying to achieve uniform pay rates and hours for their workers, which we support even if we grumble about how it's achieved.... [continue]

It hasn’t been happy times in the City. Credit crunch, recession, stagflation, Lehman going under -- every day seems to open a new gate to financial hell. So it’s no wonder that real estate is so readily available in the Square Mile. There is now 7.8 million square feet of office space left unused in the City at the moment. That’s up 50% from 5.4m sq ft last year. And office space is down... [continue]

The Tories have something different in mind for the proposed third runway at Heathrow: scrapping it in favour of high speed trains. Transport spokeswoman Theresa Villiers confirmed this morning at the Conservative Party Conference "that a Conservative government would say no to a third runway at Heathrow." The theory is that trains are greener than planes and will thus help cut carbon emissions. We're quite fond of riding the rails at Londonist; it's definitely... [continue]

Let's be honest: You've been hearing for ages about how New Cross is the super hip new neighbourhood, that's all sorts of amazing arts related activities are going on down there, and you're absolutely going to chceck it out. But you haven't. If ever there was an excuse to go exloring, than Saturday's Nail the Cross is it. Stretching across six venues and many many hours, Nail The Cross is featuring dozens of bands... [continue]

If you had been enjoying a nice dinner in the Prince's Gate/Knightsbridge area last night, you may have noticed some kind of of disturbance. That disturbance, was, in fact, a petrol bomb going through the front doors of the Iranian Embassy. Mercifully, no one was hurt, and the Embassy was left with only minor damage. An investigation is currently under way for the arsonists and their motives.... [continue]

Anti-folk [anti]hero Jeffrey Lewis and his band took the stage at Scala last night armed with energy, good humour, and cartoons. The packed room was dead silent for finger-picked acoustic melodies while the floor heaved during fuzzed out rock stomps (including a cover of a Crass song). While some of his New York-centric references might only make sense if you visit our cousins over at Gothamist regularly, the majority of his songs are on... [continue]

Coming from Cornwall with a bit of California dreaming, this beachy sextet has a sound influenced by shores of warmer climates. Taking their cues from the Beach Boys and Mojave 3 (including a bright cover of “The Mutineer”), the Loose Salute blend happy, poppy sixties surf with the mellow, melancholy tones of alt-country. And any band with a lap-steel wins bonus points. They tend to do the mellow, melancholy songs better than the happy,... [continue]

The art world is currently buzzing about one of the biggest and least publicised shows of the year. Bucking the tradition of going through galleries, Damien Hirst, he of the diamond encrusted skull, has decided to put his new works up for sale through Sotheby's. Over 200 works will be going under the hammer Monday and Tuesday, but until then Sotheby's is hosting the biggest ever Hirst show. The works are mostly more of... [continue]

A hiccough in the system led to major headaches yesterday when trading was suspended for seven hours on the London Stock Exchange. Some brokers found they were unable to trade shortly after the market's opening yesterday. Connectivity issues were blamed, and all trading was suspended in the name of fairness. However, yesterday was the first business day after it was announced that the US mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were being bailed out... [continue]

The Press Association is celebrating its 140th anniversary by putting some of its finest photos on disply. The gallery space they've chosen happens to be St. Pancras International. The shots feature different aspects of British life from Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee portrait from 1897 to Beijing Olympic medalists from last month. In between, there are snaps of Twiggy, a still from the set of The Avengers, Fashion Week statements, and a certain clock tower... [continue]

With summer in its death throes (or, if you rather, with autumn firmly set in), opportunities to get out and enjoy the, um, nice, weather are waning. But opportunities to show off your bicycle are plentiful. London's second annual Freewheel is later this month, and looming fare hikes on the buses and tube are as good a reason as any to start pedaling. But if you just want to look good while rolling around... [continue]

Peter Brewis at the piano with The Week That Was Two thirds of Field Music reunited to play songs not by Field Music when School Of Language and The Week That Was took to the stage at Barfly. We told you about David Brewis' School Of Language (with Peter on bass) a while back and are happy to report that we stand by our initial assessment. We also told you that Peter Brewis' The Week... [continue]

A likeness of Kate Moss cast in gold and potentially weighing more than Kate Moss is just one of the figures that will be featured at the British Museum from 4 October. The statue by Marc Quinn (who famously created a bust of himself from eight pints of his own blood) is for the exhibition Statuephilia. Weighing in at 50kg, the British Museum has only released an extreme close-up shot of the statue, so... [continue]

It is extraordinarily lucky to be able to see a band like Fucked Up play live even once a year. It is a massive treat to see a band with so much energy, so much enthusiasm, so much force behind their performance. Seeing Fucked Up live is an all around experience; you are not only aurally assaulted, but you may be physically assaulted as well. Whether you get smashed by crazed dancers moshing like... [continue]

There was a bit of an awkward silence at London House in Beijing when the image of Myra Hindley flashed up during a video meant to promote London. A six-minute video by Visit London was playing on a loop at London House for a private audience. Unfortunately, while panning through an art gallery, one of the paintings featured is that of Myra Hindley's mug shot done in children's handprints. Though not a part of... [continue]

Whether you queued up for the Cans Festival back in May or missed out on car crashes, piano men, and Banksy getting called out, now is definitely the time to head back over to Leake Street near Waterloo. Almost the entirety of the tunnel under the old Eurostar platform has been painted over with new street art. There may not be the star quality of that guy from Bristol, Brooklyn's Faile, or the ever cheeky... [continue]

We've told you about Westminster's recent shifts in attitude towards parking enforcement, and now it looks like they're attempting to change how traffic wardens operate. A new plan to have traffic wardens issue fewer tickets and give more drivers a chance to move their motors is being implemented over the next 12 months, with the hope that 10% fewer tickets will be issued. As 800,000 tickets were issued in 2007, that's hopefully a lot... [continue]

Field Music may be on an indefinite hiatus, but the members of Field Music haven't left us wanting. We've already told you about David Brewis' fantastic School Of Language, and we're just as excited about Peter Brewis' The Week That Was. Full of dramatic crescendos, the odd orchestral flourish, and the sorts of songs you'll find yourself unconsciously humming throughout the day, TWTW is no less ambitious than Field Music, but still a bit... [continue]

As we're sure you've heard by now, efforts to save Walthamstow greyhound track have, unfortunately, gone to the dogs. Walthamstow Stadium will have its final night of racing tomorrow, which is likely to be packed and quite emotional. So if you're less of a die-hard hare racer, tonight might make a good night to head on down for a final flutter, a last basket of scampi, or to leave a copy of Parklife with a... [continue]

Those of you passing through Soho this morning may have noticed a certain degree of destruction on Berwick Street. A fire broke out this morning at 3.40 in a building among a row of shops. Five people were rescued from the flats in the two storeys above the shops while 20 firefighters battled the blaze. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. No word yet on what caused the fire, or if any of the shops... [continue]